Oil pump



Aug. 29, 1961 w. B. HATCHER OIL PUMP 2 Sheets-Sheet l INVENTOR' Z/A'M B.//ATCH/Qi ATTORNEY QEEwwE w Filed May 15, 1958 2 Sheets Sheet 2 INVENTOR ATTORNEY W. B. HATCHER OIL PUMP W/u/AM '5. HA 70/:

Aug. 29, 1961 Filed May 15, 1958 The present invention relates to a pump and more particularly to a type of pump which is particularly adapted to be used in shallow oil wells to recover residual oil therefrom after conventional pumps have ceased to function, although the device is capable of many other uses.

In general, the pump of this invention is a unitary device comprising a vertically extending cylinder from which upwardly extends a delivery pipe and, in parallel relation thereto, an operating rod. Above the cylindrical casing the rod is provided with a novel air release valve adapted to deliver air through the lower portion of the rod which is hollow for such purposes. The lower end of the rod is provided with a novel valved piston which is slidably mounted in an inner cylinder in the casing. The operation of the piston causes fluid to be delivered to the lower end of the delivery pipe which is provided with a novel valve which normally acts as a check valve. Associated with the check valve is a novel drain valve providing access to the casing when the operating rod is moved upwardly beyond its normal pumping movement.

It is accordingly an object of the invention to provide a novel pump which is unitary in structure and which is particularly adapted for use in salvaging liquids from wells after conventional wells have ceased to function efiiciently.

Another object of the invention is to provide, in a device of the character set forth, a novel valved piston forming a part of the invention.

Still another object of the invention is to provide, in a device of the character set forth, novel means for the admission of air to a pumping mechanism forming a part of the invention.

Still another object of the invention is to provide, in a device of the character set forth, a novel drain valve and novel means for operating the same.

Another object of the invention is a portable pump which is easily and quickly installed and operated in a well from a truck equipped with a winch and reel large enough to hold suflicient cable to lower the pump to the bottom of the well and use the same cable to operate the pump and, when through pumping, to remove the pump with the same cable.

A still further object of the invention is the novel positioning of the cable outside of delivery pipe whereby a much smaller pipe or lengths of hose supported by another small cable may be used to bring the fluid from the bottom of the well to the surface at much less expense than the present method of using lengths of pipe of a diameter large enough to hold twenty five foot lengths of rods threaded together inside of the pipe.

Other and further objects of the invention will become apparent from a reading of the following specification taken in conjunction with the drawings, in which:

FIGURE 1 is a vertical sectional view, partly broken away, and partly in elevation, of a pump embodying the invention,

FIGURE 2 is an enlarged fragmentary sectional view of a portion of the device illustrated in FIGURE 1,

FIGURE 3 is an enlarged fragmentary sectional view of another portion of the device illustrated in FIGURE 1 and taken substantialy along line 3-3 of FIGURE 1,

FIGURE 4 is an enlarged sectional view taken along line 4-4 of FIGURE 1,

FIGURE 5 is a sectional view taken along line 5-5 of FIGURE 2,

FIGURE 6 is a sectional view taken along line 6-6 of FIGURE 2,

FIGURE 7 is a sectional view taken along line 7-7 of FIGURE 2,

FIGURE 8 is a sectional view taken along line 8-8 of FIGURE 2,

FIGURE 9 is a sectional view taken along line 9-9 of FIGURE 2, and

FIGURE 10 is a fragmentary vertical sectional view of the lower portion of the device illustrated in FIGURE 1.

Referring more particularly to the drawings, there is shown therein a pump comprising a vertically extending cylindrical casing 10 having a top 11 and having threadably connected to its lower end a band 12 which also conmeets with a screen 13 having a threadably connected removable bottom 14. A cylindrical shield 14a is affixed upon the upper face of the cap or bottom member 14. The upper end of the shield 14a is open and extends above the top of the screen 13. The purpose of this shield is to keep mud and sand out of a dependent cylinder 38 mentioned hereinbelow.

A cylindrical housing 15 is threadably connected to the upper end of the casing 10 and is provided at its upper end with a removable cover 16.

A fitting 17 extends upwardly from the cover 16 in which it is threadably mounted and is provided with a packing member 18 at its upper end. Likewise threadably mounted in the cover 16 and extending upwardly therefrom is a relatively short pipe 19 to the upper end of which is threadably connected a valve housing 20 in which is positioned a ball valve 21 adapted to seat normally in the upper end of the pipe 19. A discharge pipe 22 is threadably connected to the upper end of the housing 20 and a late-rally extending bracket 23 is affixed, as indicated at 23a, to the pipe 22.

Slidably mounted in the outer end of the bracket 23 is a vertically extending operating rod 24 to the upper end of which is connected a cable 25 for operating, raising and lowering the same.

To the lower end of the operating rod 24 there is threadably connected a cover 26 which is, in turn, threadably connected to an air .relief valve housing 27 whose lower end is provided with a plurality of openings 28. The rod 24 projects for a short distance into the housing 27, as shown in FIGURE 3.

A hollow rod 29 extends slidably through the fitting l7 and at its upper end extends slidably through the bottom of the housing 27 and has aflixed to its upper end a valve housing 30 which latter is centrally provided in its upper end with an opening from the sides of which upwardly extends a perforated sleeve 31 having a closed upper end through which slidably extends a valve stem 32, the lower end of which extends into the housing 30 and is provided with a valve 33 adapted to seat in the lower end of the sleeve 31. The upper end of the stem 32 abuts against the lower end of the operating rod 24.

A collar 34 is slidably mounted upon the stem 32 and is provided at its lower end with an outstanding flange 35 which abuts against the upper end of the sleeve 31. Adjacent the upper end of the stem 32 there is also aflixed a collar 36 and a compression spring 37 surrounds the stem 32 and collar 34 and abuts against the collar 36 and flange 35.

The top 11 is provided with a relatively large opening in which is threadably mounted an elongated dependent cylinder 38 which, of course, lies within the casing 10 and has threadably affixed to its lower end a bottom member 39 having a plurality of circumferentially spaced openings 40 formed therein.

The lower end of the hollow rod 29 is threadably connected to a hollow connector element 41 whose lower end is connected by means of a pin 42 to an opentopped hollow piston 43 having a closed bottom 44 centrally provided with an opening 45 in which is seated a ball valve 46. The piston 43 is slidably mounted in cylinder 38.

Dependently mounted upon the bottom 44 and in spaced relation-thereto by means of screws 47 or the like is a circular plate 48 provided with a plurality of circumferentially spaced openings 49. A guide rod 50 is' centrally dependent from the plate 48 and extends slidably through a packing cap 51 centrally mounted upon the underside of the bottom 39. Overlying the openings 40 is an annular disc valve 52 which is centrally provided with an opening 53 for the reception t-herethrough of the guide rod 50.

A drain pipe 54 extends through the top 11 and a valve 55 seats in the upper end thereof and is provided with a vertically and upwardly extending stem 56 which extends for a distance into the pipe 19 with which it is centrally aligned. To the underside of the valve 55 there is affixed a dependent guide rod 57 which extends for a distance into the pipe 54. Aflixed to the stem 56, as indicated at 58, is a radially extending bracket 59 provided with an enlarged outer end 60 in which the hollow tube 29 is slidably mounted. The tube 29 has affixed thereto by means of a set screw 61 a collar 62.

In operation, it will be apparent that the device as an entirety may be lowered into a well whereupon the cable 25 may be affixed to any suitable operating mechanism whereby the rod 24 may be vertically reciprocated. It will be seen that when the rod 24 is lifted that it will carry with it the housing 27 and consequently the hollow tube 29 due to the fact that the lower end of the housing 27 abuts against the underside of the valve housing 3% This upward movement of the hollow tube 29 will, of course, also lift the piston 43. The valve 46 will now be seated and the valve 52 will open. Thus any fluid entrapped previously in the lower end of the cylinder 38 will be lifted and moved through the housing 15 and thence through the pipe 19 and valve 21 to the delivery pipe 22 which may be connected to any suitable reservoir or the like.

Upon downward movement of the rod 24, the valve housing 30 and its attached sleeve 31 will move relatively upwardly with respect to the stem 32 and housing 27, it being apparent that the upper end of the stem 32 is in abut ing relation to the lower end of the rod 24. This action will cause the valve 33 to become unseated thus allowing air to enter the openings 28 and pass through the sleeve 31 into the housing 30 and thus downwardly through the hollow tube 29 to the upper end of the piston 43 thus breaking the resistance of any vacuum which might otherwise be formed in the cylinder 38 and permitting a smooth downward movement of the piston '43 and its associated members. As the piston moves downwardly, it will be apparent that the valve 46 will become unseated and that the disc valve 52 will become seated to permit a passage of fluid through the opening 45 where such fluid will be ready to be lifted upon the next upward stroke of the rod 24. During such downward movement of the rod 24 and its associated members, it will be apparent that the valve 21 will remain seated thus preventing any back flow of fluid from the delivery pipe 22.

It will also be apparent that the upward and downward strokes of the rod 24 and hollow tube 29 will be normally limited in length so that no contact is made between the collar 62 and the enlarged portion 60 of the bracket 59. When, however, it is desired to drain the delivery pipe 22, it is only necessary to move the rod 24 upwardly in greater than normal distance to thus cause the collar 62 to come into contact with the enlarged portion 60 of the bracket 59 thus lifting the bracket 59 and consequently the stem 56 which latter will abut against the valve 21 to unseat the same thus permitting a downward flow of fluid from the delivery pipe 22 to the casing 15. Thus upward movement of the bracket 59 likewise unseats the valve 55 from the pipe 54 thus allow' ing the fluid released from the pipe 22 to pass through the drain pipe 54 into the casing 10. It will be apparent that the guide rod 57 will maintain the valve 55 in proper position for reclosing while the guide rod 50 assists in keeping the piston 43 in proper alignment within the cylinder 38.

While but one form of the invention has been shown and described herein, it will be readily apparent to those skilled'in the art that many minor modifications may be made without departing from the spirit of the invention or the scope of the appended claims.

What is claimed is:

1. A pump comprising a vertically extending casing, a screen aflixed to the lower end of said casing, a top affixed at the upper end of said casing and having an opening therein, a housing mounted upon the upper end of said casing, a discharge pipe extending upwardly from said housing, a cylinder dependently mounted in the opening in said top, a valved bottom aflixed to the lower end of said cylinder, a valved piston slidably mounted in said cylinder, means for reciprocating said piston, a check valve in the lower end of said discharge pipe, a relatively short pipe extending through said top in vertical alignment with said discharge pipe, a drain valve seated in the upper end of said pipe, means actuated by raising said piston in excess of a predetermined amount for opening said drain valve, a fitting provided in the upper end of said housing, wherein said means for reciprocating said piston constitutes a hollow piston rod connected at its lower end to said piston and extending slidably through said fitting, wherein said last-mentioned means includes an operating means carried by said piston rod and radially extending means engageable by said operating means and movable thereby for opening said check valve and said drain valve, said operating means being movable with said housing wherein said radially extending means is positioned.

2. A pump as defined in claim 1 including a stem atfixed to said drain valve and said radially extending means and extending into said discharge pipe, said hollow piston rod being slidable in said radially extending means, and wherein said operating means constitutes a collar aflixed to said hollow piston rod whereby to abut and lift radially extending means upon upward movement of said hollow piston rod in excess of a predetermined amount.

3. A pump as defined in claim 1 including reciprocable guide means for said drain valve, and for said piston, said guide means being disposed in said casing and being operatively interconnected to said drain valve and said piston.

4. A pump as defined in claim 1 wherein vacuumbraking means is provided for the downward movement of said piston in said cylinder, said means comprising a bracket affixed to the discharge pipe, an operating rod slidably mounted in said bracket, and an air relief valve interconnecting the lower end of the operating rod and the upper end of said hollow piston rod.

5. A pump as defined in claim 4 wherein air relief valve comprises a relief valve housing afiixed to the lower end portion of the operating rod, a perforated bottom carried by said relief valve housing, said hollow piston rod extending slidably through said perforated bottom, a hollow valve housing affixed to the upper end of said hollow piston rod and having an opening in its upper end, a perforated sleeve extending upwardly from the sides of said opening, a valve seated in the underside of said opening and having a stem extending upwardly to abut against the lower end of said operating rod, a collar slidable upon said stem and having a flange at its lower end in abutment with the upper end of said sleeve, a collar aflixed to the upper portion of said stem,

and a compression spring surrounding said stem and 475,895 abutting said collars. 567,533 868,541 References Cited in the file of this patent 880,019 5 1,542,248 UNITED STATES PATENTS 2,058,798

80,617 Foley Aug. 4, 1868 252,643 Bartlett Jan. 24, 1882 440,458 Beard Nov. 11, 1890 496,676

6 Schiller May 31, 1892 Bostwick Sept. 8, 1896 Forester Oct. 15, 1907 Futhey Feb. 25, 1908 Howe June 16, 1925 Hughes Oct. 27, 193 6 FOREIGN PATENTS Italy July 28, 1954 

